Martin Daly: Warns of Critical Shortage in Dental Workforce
Martin Daly challenged the state of the Dental Treatment Services Scheme and warned of a critical shortage of dentists, arguing that current training and registration processes are inadequate. He urged expansion of training capacity, reinstatement of intern or vocational training for dentists, and removal of barriers that push dentists to register abroad.
Population growth and dentist supply
Martin Daly noted a population increase of 1.2 million in the last 20 years and said it is striking that fewer dentists now provide services to the state. He stressed he was not blaming practising dentists but highlighted that dentist numbers are "woefully inadequate" relative to need.
Training numbers and dental schools
He discussed reported graduate figures, saying around 50 to 55 EU graduates are likely to practise in Ireland in a given year, with an additional intake of 25 from the College of Surgeons. He also noted there are over 90 graduating in any year overall, that the College of Surgeons is now a third dental school and will grow, and that it takes five years to train a dentist.
Comparison with medical training capacity
Daly compared dental training capacity with medicine, noting general practice numbers of about 3,500 and roughly 450 medical trainees a year. He argued it is difficult not to conclude that the state is under‑training dentists and must increase self‑sufficiency rather than rely heavily on dentists arriving from Britain, Europe and beyond.
Registration obstacles and international registration
He raised concerns about barriers to entry on the Irish dental register, citing an example of a doctor whose wife found it easier to register in the UK. Daly explained the Dental Council is an independent regulatory body and acknowledged that while requirements appear similar, administrative differences or fewer required years in practice abroad may make UK registration less onerous.
Internship and vocational training proposals
Daly pressed for an intern or vocational training year for new dentists, comparing it to his own medical intern year that prepared him for practice. He recalled a past vocational training scheme that involved a mix of private and public practice and lectures, but said it was withdrawn around 20 years ago and suggested restoring equivalent training for dentists was important.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
I suppose the first question to ask is the Dental Treatment Services Scheme, and you've already alluded to it. It beggars belief that with a growth in population of 1.2 million in the last 20 years, that we have less dentists now providing the service to the state. And I'm not blaming the dentists on this. There are obviously the plans that you have talked about, about having a comprehensive dental scheme for the state is really important. But I'd just like to note that. You talked about the number of dentists being trained. It seems like a really low figure. I mean, 50 to 55 is what's been trained now, an additional 25 coming from the Royal College of Surgeons. It still seems like a really low figure. What would you say to that? Yes. Well, I suppose just to be clear, there are, in any year, there are over 90 graduating. So when we say there's 50 or 55, that's as many are EU graduates and likely to practice in Ireland. So we now have a third dental school, the College of Surgeons is operating, and it will actually become the biggest of the three dental schools in time. It takes five years to train a dentist. So yes, the number of dentists is woefully inadequate in terms of the training. But if you were to say, Fenton, that the number of general practitioners in Ireland would be about 3,500 medical general practitioners. It's difficult not to believe that, and they're training 450 a year. It's difficult not to believe that we are not addressing the capacity issue for dentists. Would that be a fair summation? Oh, absolutely. Because there are challenges in medicine, and there are even greater challenges in dentistry. Yes, I mean, that's a, you know, we have that number of medical graduates every year, and that number of medical doctors in general practice. You would say that we are completely under training the number of dentists. You know, we are now relying, and we're very grateful for dentists arriving into Ireland from Britain and the rest of Europe and further afield. If we didn't have that option, we would be in an unthinkable situation. So we have to become more self-sufficient. So just because I'm on a tight, I don't mean to interrupt you, but there are considerable barriers to getting on the dental register here. I mean, I'm aware of a Pakistani doctor who has been living here now for 15 years. He was working in surgery, and he came to general practice. He was training in our practice. His wife's a dentist, and they're moving up to Enniskillin because they tell me, and you can correct me, that it is less onerous to get on the UK dental register than it is on the Irish dental register. And I'd like you to explain that because on the face of it, you would sense protectionism. Is that the case? I'm asking the question. Well, as you know, the Dental Council is a separate body. It's the licensing regulatory body. So I would say that on the face of it, the requirements are very similar in Ireland Britain, the administration, and how applications are processed. Maybe the explanation in that the Dental Council... I think what they said is that she will have to do less years in practice to qualify to get on the register. I stand to be corrected, but I'm happy with what you've said, but it is something that struck me. I'm sorry about this. The time is short. On the training, the intern years proposal for new dentists, it does seem to me that, you know, I would say in my own profession, you do six years. I was ill equipped at six years. I wasn't a great student. They were better than me, a lot better than me. But I was ill-equipped to go into practice in solo practice. Certainly, I would say it would have been dangerous to do that. My intern year in James Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown certainly sorted me out in the real world and put me on the right track. It just beggars belief that there isn't the same intern position for dentists. Yeah, well, my colleague Bridget here is actually one of the last people. There was, for a short period of time, a vocational training scheme, which is somewhat analogous, so maybe Bridget can explain her experience. The vocational training scheme, I was in the pilot scheme actually, and then it was withdrawn. When I qualified, it was an optional scheme, so you do a year post-grad. You work in two days a week in private practice and two days a week in the public, and then you do a day of lectures. And it was withdrawn around 20 years ago. Thank you very much. We're out of time. It's quite tight, because we've got another session. Okay, fair enough. Okay, thank you. No, no. Thank you very much. Thank you. This is Sinn Féin as Deputy Clark. Thank you.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
